Shining sensed the beginning of a long night, especially if the team managed to uncover anything significant while going through the courthouse records a second time. As he looked at everypony in the room, he could see resolve and determination in them to get the job done. Arresting Gilgamesh was the first break in the case, and the only way to keep that momentum going was to keep working.
“I’ll need volunteers to go back to the courthouse.”
Rough, Skydancer, and Soft raised their hooves. Shining nodded to them. “Check into Gilgamesh’s brother Eddy and find out who Gaston is.”
As the three of them left, Shining paused and then spoke his thoughts aloud. “If we get something from their search, the rest of us will have to be ready to move. If we’re quick enough, we can get to Eddy and Gaston before they find out that Gilgamesh has been arrested.”
“Sir, what if somepony comes by Gilgamesh’s house and finds him gone?” asked Puppy.
“It might be a good idea for somepony to watch his place,” Shining allowed. “Any volunteers?”
Puppy stepped forward, and so did Flash. Shining hesitated, but nodded his consent. The two Guards went out.
“Now that Gilgamesh has been arrested, we have a reason to go back to Mr. Thrift and inspect his corn. Mag, Dim, you two would best know if anything seemed suspicious. Ace, go with them.”
Shining turned to Pikop. “I’m going to draw on your previous experiences with griffons. It would help if we understood them better.”
Pikop nodded. “I’ll tell you whatever I know, sir. I’m not an expert, but I have some knowledge.”
Airborne came up to the two of them. “I read a few foreign journals. I might be able to help.”
Shining nodded and the three of them sat down. Cyrus wandered away to go lift weights or something.
Pikop began. “I think the biggest fundamental difference between griffons and ponies is that ponies have a herd mentality. Griffons have groups, certainly, but they aren’t as close to each other overall.”
“It’s species psychology,” Airborne added. “Griffons are naturally hunters and have territorial instincts. They’re less trusting of new faces than ponies are. They also have less inclination to stick together, because as a predator species they had fewer enemies to defend against.”
It was helpful information. The usual Guard tactics might have to be modified to compensate. Shining thought about possible applications of this news, knowing that Soft had probably already run across them in her work. Perhaps the lone-wolf attitude made griffons more likely to be bold and make mistakes while being interrogated. Being less trusting made it harder to start a casual conversation with a griffon, however.
Pikop and Airborne ran through a few more tidbits before Rough, Skydancer, and Soft returned from the courthouse.
“We have an address for Gaston but not much else on him,” said Rough.
“There’s much more information about Eddy.” Soft pulled out a notepad and read from it. “He owns a casino here in Port Talon. There are a few complaints about him, noise violations and rough treatment from his staff to casino patrons, but none of it is serious. The casino is one of the city’s most profitable businesses.”
“Where’s Gaston’s place?” asked Shining.
“It’s pretty far out there, on the road to Kingdom City near the North Bridge,” replied Skydancer.
“And the casino?”
“The corner of 1st and King Kite,” provided Soft.
“All right. Skydancer, Airborne, fly out to Gaston’s place and have a look. If he’s home, call us and we’ll arrange to meet you there.”
A thought occurred to Shining and he smiled. “Rough, you’re probably itching to go pump some iron, so you stay here for now. Go find Cyrus and tell him that he’s finally going to see some action.”
While it may not have been what Cyrus had in mind for a first trip into the city, he was fidgeting excitedly at the prospect of getting off the ship. Shining, Soft, and Pikop accompanied him down the street to Eddy’s place. Dusk was settling in, but if there was one place that could be counted on to be open late, it was a casino.
It was called the Golden Feather. It was located where the river joined the sea just north of the lighthouse. The outside of the building was decorated with glittering lights that reflected off the water.
It was the first time Shining had gotten a closer look at the area. It seemed like a higher-end part of town. The lighthouse was clean and white, casting its rotating beam out to sea in the gathering darkness.
The group paused outside the casino. Cyrus put on a pair of fancy sunglasses and a grin, heading inside. He may have been the only crystal pony, but he was far from the only out-of-towner. Obvious tourists and travelers dotted the gambling hall. Some were griffons in vacation garb, others were ponies, donkeys, mules, zebras, and there were even a few minotaurs.
The abundance of species only added to the variety of sights and sounds that filled the casino: machines clanged and flashed, cards were shuffled, dice were rolled. The carpet was a cacophony of colors while the walls and ceiling were finished with exaggerated trim.
Shining took it in for a moment, watching Cyrus wade into the middle of it all, before making his way over to a griffon who was standing security. “Pardon me, I’m looking for Eddy.”
The griffon cocked an eyebrow. “Oh really?”
Shining gestured to the ponies with him. “We’d like to speak with Eddy. It’s about his brother.”
The griffon regarded them for a few seconds and then turned, gesturing for the ponies to follow. He led them through an unmarked door into a hallway that was quieter and not nearly as decorated as the casino floor. He brought them to another door and knocked.
“Come in.”
The security griffon opened the door and gestured. Shining stepped in. There was a desk and a few filing cabinets, nothing particularly notable. The griffon that occupied the office had a slicked-back crest of feathers and an impatient expression. “What?”
“We’re here about your brother,” Shining said. “Did you know he was arrested earlier today?”
Eddy’s eyebrows went up. “For what?”
“Attempted assault,” Soft said. “The police took him away, but we were concerned that he might not be getting the emotional help he needs. We thought you should know.”
“Frankly, I’m surprised this is the first time that this has happened to my idiot brother.” Eddy rolled his eyes.
“He mentioned someone named Gaston,” Soft said.
Eddy shrugged. “I think they work together.”
“I’d be very concerned about their employee mental health benefits.” Soft paused, as if a thought had just occurred to her. “Do you know how we can contact Gaston? I think we should let him know about this situation, too.”
“No, no idea.” Eddy frowned. “Who are you ponies, anyway? Why aren’t the police telling me this?”
Soft dropped her head. “Well you see…it was me who he attacked. I just wanted to make that Gilgamesh was recuperated so that he doesn’t do something like this again. The reason we knew you were his brother was because he said you were going to come take revenge for getting him locked up.”
Eddy burst out laughing. “Seriously? Yeah, now you see what kind of problems he’s got; that’s why I try and distance myself from him. He doesn’t need recuperation, he needs about fifty more IQ points.”
“You certainly seem to have built a successful business here,” Soft said. “What sort of work does Gilgamesh do?”
Eddy shrugged. “This and that.”
“Well, we first met him when trying to make a deal for corn,” Soft said. “Is he part of some farming group? Do you know where the corn comes from?”
“Farming group?” Eddy was silent for several seconds. He shook his head. “Aw, whatever. He’s already in jail so telling you won’t hurt anything. My brother worked with pirates.”
Soft gasped theatrically. “Really?”
“Yeah, he hung out with this griffon named Anchor and they would go sailing, he told me. It took a while, but I realized what was really going on.” Eddy shook his head. “Anchor disappeared at some point. I think he was in trouble with the police.”
“So who is Gaston?” Soft asked.
“I don’t know. Gil mentioned him to me while he was asking for my help one time. He said I could make a lot of money if I talked to Gaston.” Eddy snorted. “I run the only casino in town. I’m not exactly hurting for cash.”
“Are there any other names you remember?” Soft asked him. “We might be able to go to the police. Maybe if your brother talked to them they would let him off easy.”
“No, I always tried to stay out of my brother’s business.” Eddy let out a long sigh. “I guess I’ll go down to the station in the morning and see what I can do.”
There wasn’t much else to be said and the Guards took their leave. Cyrus, who had apparently been playing well, made a hasty exit from his game to catch up.
“I made a few friends,” he said, chuckling. “Everyone seemed to want to talk to me. Apparently they think that every crystal pony is incredibly wealthy because of a thousand years’ interest in the bank. I think that I make a pretty good tourist.”
They walked back to the ship. Checking in with Puppy and Flash, up north watching Gilgamesh’s house, revealed something interesting. A griffon had come by the house and left after seeing that Gilgamesh wasn’t home. The male visitor had a black head, brown body, and a distinctive scar on his shoulder. He’d headed southwest after leaving the house. Shining made arrangements to have Puppy and Flash replaced with fresh guards in a few hours so nopony would miss too much sleep.
Mag and Dim returned from visiting Mr. Thrift with nothing to show. “All the corn from all the sources gets mixed together,” Mag reported. “If there was anything special about Gilgamesh’s corn, the evidence is gone now. Mr. Thrift even let us look in the silos, but we didn’t get anything from it.”
Shining brought them up to speed on the information garnered from their trip to the Golden Feather, using the map for reference. Mag speculated for a few moments. “The courthouse is closed now, but there might be police records for Anchor, if what Eddy said is true.”
While they were talking, Skydancer and Airborne reported in. Their radio call was scratchy, and Shining had to wait for the two of them to get closer before he could make out the words. “Sir, we inspected the property where Gaston was supposed to live, but there’s nothing here. It’s just a flat piece of land.”
Shining grumbled. They might be able to get records of the land’s deeding, but not until the courthouse opened in the morning.
The team looked to Shining for guidance. It was getting late, but he could see that they weren’t ready to quit yet. He knew what he wanted to do next.
This Gaston guy sure is a mysterious character;apparently having a dissapearing house. Anyway,now that we finally have information on the pirates, I feel that we should check out this Anchor guy. Also,if Eddy does actually go talk to Gilgamesh,make sure that we find out whatever information he has.
For now the only noticeable lead is to find out more about Anchor and see if he's got any ties to the crook we're chasing down. We should also find out where he is and whether he's a threat.
We should also keeps taps on Gilgamesh's house for that mystery griffon. Chances are he or she is up to something that could be traced back to our current leads.
That casino also sounds like a good place to potentially get some griffons to "slip" some information in a casual game. Just play with them for a while, get to know them, and then see what they might know. The more information we can get the better, though we will need to watch out for dead ends or bogus information.
Eddy worries me - as the owner of the only casino, he's also in a great position to launder money for the pirates if he's inclined. But for the moment, I'd say he just needs more observation.
Gaston needs to be found. The fact that his 'house' doesn't exist is most worrying. It almost makes me wonder if Gaston has diamond dog helpers to maintain an underground lair ... but that's probably my paranoia talking.
If it's not too late, somepony should probably try to track the griffon who left Gilgamesh' place. Or at the least, ask their griffon helpers if they know who he is. A distinctive scar should help identify who the visitor was, especially if he's a suspected pirate.
A records search will hopefully give them more information about Anchor, and I'd also ask the griffon helpers about him as well.
...If Gaston just has a cloudhome, I would giggle. Or maybe he lives on a houseboat! An AIR houseboat! This is obviously the only logical conclusion.
Eddy seems legit. I trust him, probably more than I really should, but his self-interest justification holds water imo-- I really thinks he wants as little to do with his brother as possible.
Anchor... I suspect is disappeared. Finding him would likely take tremendous effort-- far more than it is worth. I'd advise we just check for records of him (with cops and courthouse) and not bother trying to track him down if his residence isn't immediately obvious.
I say that Mr. Thrift and Silver are dead ends, until something else comes up, it seems they'd only be useful for interrogation. Maybe ask if they know of "Scar-shoulder"?
Find anything you can about Anchor, police records, town records, anything. Also, if he has a criminal record, it might be a good idea to let the police in about his possible connection.
Search the public records for any sort of deed to the land, and maybe ask Baisti, Stormfeather, or maybe even the mayor about Gaston, considering how important/wealthy he sounds. If you talk to the mayor, ask about Anchor as well. Being a sailor himself, he might have met him by the docks or something.
Finally, keep an eye on Eddy. We've just met him and in something like this we might not be able to afford the benefit of the doubt.
The way Eddy acts seems to be alright. Notable difference in opinion between the brothers, though. Gilgamesh seems to think of Eddy as a close family member who'd fight to protect him, while Eddy openly insults his brother's intelligence when spoken to and seems to want to distance himself. Don't know what that means. In any case, it doesn't seem like Eddy is someone who needs thorough investigation, at the moment anyway. He's also someone that the ponies shouldn't aggravate, for fear of making things unnecessarily difficult. Maybe keep an eye or two on him passively.
Meanwhile, it's probably interesting to know that Crystal Ponies are thought to be wealthy. Cyrus seems happy enough for that rumor to exist, and if the belief is widespread, it could be easily manipulated in certain situations to the team's advantage. Just an odd note that could eventually be useful.
As for specific courses of action, I'll leave that to others. I've got no better ideas of my own.
Interesting way of dealing with my question from last time about griffon ethnic groups - half answered and half demonstrated with Anchor. It sounds like I might have more or less guessed right about the ethnic groups but that the pirates won't be restricted to just one group, since Anchor would be from a different group than Gilgamesh and Gaston. I think I'd still like to hear one of the griffons expand on it a bit though. Are they gone home for the night at this stage, since they weren't in this chapter?
If the point of the corn had been to smuggle something, it probably wouldn't have been sold to somewhere it would be mixed with other corn, since that would make it much harder for the smugglers to find anything smuggled in with it. I guess that means it was just stolen goods? Something I don't think we've seen which we should have looked for is a list of stuff that's been reported stolen by pirates recently - might give a lead to other places stolen goods might be sold to, and tell us whether this corn was definitely stolen.
That will have to wait until morning when someone is getting information on Anchor and Gaston's property at the courthouse, I suppose.
In the meantime, can Cyrus go back to playing the tourist at the casino for a while, maybe taking Skydancer with him? Soft Touch might be better suited to picking up some local information from civilians, but she was there for the meeting with Eddy and the arrest of Gil, which mightn't make her much good with keeping a covert watch around the casino.
Eddy gave up Gil's links to the pirates way too easily to be working with them (barring him playing a complicated blame-shifiting game by leaving the start of the trail to his brother on the boat purposely or something, but we can come back to that if any evidence against him actually turns up), but given that Gil thought his brother would help, it wouldn't be surprising if one of Gil's contacts - the scarred griffon, for instance - decided to talk to Eddy to ask for his help once they find out he's been arrested. Skydancer, as a former wonderbolt, would seem the best partner for Cyrus if they need to trail any flying suspects they spot in the casino.
Well, seems like a lot of these suspects are just vanishing left and right. The pirates must be catching wind of the investigation. Now, I just read three chapters in a row because I forgot to fave the story, so I have way too much swimming around my head to think of specific courses of action. So I'm just gonna jot down some general thoughts.
1. Eddy's reaction was weird. His brother made them sound close. I think he's playing nice with harmful attentions. Its probably dangerous to hang around the casino. But since pirates generally love to gamble, I really think Cyrus should stay, with back up. I agree with 3496385 that Skydancer seems like a good choice.
2. Find some dirt on Eddy, anything that justifies holding him, preferably before he warns Gilgamesh.Obviously, Stormfeather will be needed to make this happen. Once he's in custody, perform cross examinations between the two brothers get more info on all the other suspects.
3. Oh, one more thing. That island with nothing on it? Make it a back-up base. Who knows, something might turn up there after all.
3506683What island?
3506703
Oh, it wasn't a island... I meant Gaston's property, that area that seemed absent of anything. Not exactly a good location for a base after all.